Coming off of Cleveland’s championship,LeBron Jameshas led the Cavaliers to a 9-1 start. It looks like there hasn’t been a championship lay-off at all. James finished one rebound shy of a triple-double with 28 points, 14 assists, 9 rebounds. He’s off to an incredible start. He may be rested down the stretch, if the Cavs continue their winning ways, but for now enjoy the ride.

Tristan Thompson – TT finished with an efficient double-double: 15 points, 11 rebounds on 7-8 shooting. You expect the rebounding every night, but the 15 points was a season high.

Channing Frye – With J.R. Smith (ankle) held out, Richard Jefferson (5 points, 1 assist) started, but it was Frye who really enjoyed the extra usage. Coming off the bench, Frye knocked down 5-8 from downtown, on his way to 21 points and 3 rebounds. That’s now back-to-back 20-point games for the sharp shooting big man. Smith is expected back soon, as coach Tryonn Lue said Smith “could’ve been ready” on Tuesday.

Jonas Valanciunas – After playing only 20 minutes in the last two games coming back from injury, JV looked like his old varsity self, with 14 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 assists in 34 minutes. Owners concerned that Lucas Nogueira (0 points, 4 rebounds) would continue to steal minutes, played only 10 minutes off the bench, picking up a quick 5 fouls. Nogueira won’t have it every night, but has taken over the Bismack Biyombo role in the 6.

DeMar DeRozan – DeRozan had an off night shooting (10-27 FG), but still managed 26 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals. He has been off to such a strong start to the season, that it’s only his second time scoring under 30 points in a game. That’s a good problem to have.

Norman Powell – With DeMarre Carroll resting on the first night of a back-to-back, Powell started and responded with 12 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds, and 3 threes. The Raptors are still being cautious with Carroll, as he comes off knee surgery. I wouldn’t add Powell in standard leagues, but he makes for a good play in daily leagues, anytime Carroll sits.

Dennis Schroder – Schroder did his part as well with 18 points, 4 assists, and 2 threes.

Dwight Howard – Before leaving with a quad contusion in the third quarter, Howard posted 11 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 steals. With Howard and the Hawks playing a back-to-back on Wednesday, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Howard sit, but look for an update on his injury status on Wednesday.

Mike Muscala – Coming off the bench, Muscala posted 14 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 threes. Locked in at about 20 minutes off the bench, Muscala could be useful for very deep leagues.

Hassan Whiteside – 19 points, 25 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block. Wow. The 25 rebounds are not only his season-high, but are the highest single-game total in the NBA as well. He’s locked in.

Josh Richardson – Goran Dragic (ankle) missed his third straight game, giving Richardson another start. Richardson finished with 19 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 2 steals. As long as Dragic is out, Richardson should see plenty of minutes and can help teams in need of defensive stats. He has 4 blocks and 5 steals in the 3 games Dragic has missed. That’s great from your guard position.

Kemba Walker – Walker led the Hornets to a win over the Timberwolves with 30 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 5 steals.

Cody Zeller – Zeller shot a nice 6-9 from the field to finish with 14 points and 9 rebounds.

Nicolas Batum – Now that’s more like it: 16 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, and 4 threes. That’s now three straight games with 15+ points and 5+ assists and rebounds.

Frank Kaminsky III – Frank the Tank came off the bench to score 20 points (8-14 FG and 3-7 3PT) and added 5 assists and 4 rebounds. The Hornets have plenty of big men to choose from off the bench, but Kaminsky should still plenty of minutes, as long as he’s outplaying Roy Hibbert (9 points, 4 rebounds in 12 minutes) and Spencer Hawes (0 points in 4 minutes).

Karl-Anthony Towns – Towns is in a shooting slump, but still managed to post 21 points (9-23 FG, 3-10 3PT), 8 rebounds, and 4 assists. He’s taking way more threes than last year, bringing down his field goal percentage from his awesome rookie year, but still remains a top player.

Ricky Rubio – Rubio posted a near triple-double with 11 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists. As long as Rubio is playing, Kris Dunn (4 points, 3 assists in 13 minutes) will play limited minutes off the bench.

Zach LaVine – LaVine had it going from beyond the arc, as he knocked down 5-10 to finish with 19 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists.

Jerian Grant – Staring for the injured Rajon Rondo (ankle), Grant posted an 18/3/2/5 line. It’s unclear how long Rondo will be out so roll with Grant in the meantime.

Jimmy Butler – The Butler served up the Trail Blazers with 27 points, 12 rebounds, and 5 assists. The addition of Dwyane Wade (19/5/5) hasn’t quite hurt Butler’s value as much as originally thought.

Taj Gibson and Robin Lopez – The Bulls’ big men also contributed double-doubles. Gibson went 12 and 11 with 2 blocks, while Lopez went 13 and 11 with 1 block and assist. No reason why owners can’t expect this from both guys each night.

Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum – The Trail Blazers just didn’t have it on Tuesday, as they were blown out by 25. Lillard (19/5/4) and McCollum (17/4/4) were their usual studs, but received little help from the rest of the team. Allen Crabbe (15 points, 4 rebounds) was the only other player in double figures.

Julius Randle – Randle messed around and got a triple-double against the Nets, finishing with 17 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists. Enjoy the highlights:

@Superman: I’d still probably want KAT, but their values are much closer than at the start of the season. I personally wouldn’t trade KAT, but if you are, any 1st round/early 2nd round guys should be fine as a starting point.

@Jeremy: I agree with you that I’d prefer to have Barnes and DeRozan. Though, Favors would be a pretty fair trade for both teams too. I would just be cautious on Howard. Not sure how severe the quad injury he suffered last night is.

@Jeremy: I would agree. DeMar has been a beast, but I would say you’re giving up two of the best three players in the trade. And given Rose and Howard’s injury history, I’d rather stick with Thomas and Jordan.

@Dusty: My bet is that he doesn’t play before December 5th. And I think that the 76ers make a trade before the Nuggets. Once Noel, Embiid, and Okafor are all healthy, possibly towards the end of December/early January. That’s not based on any information, just a wild guess.

@Rock: Really the only guys on your team that I would consider dropping would be Covington or Mudiay. I’d rather have Payton, Barton, or Knight over those two.

But a better idea would be to condense some of your players, by making a 2-for-1 trade. That would then open a roster spot up for you to pick up one of those guys. Maybe upgrade your SF position by trading away a guard and Morris.

IN a 12 team h2h daily 9 cat league, we don’t use TO’s we use FGM, FG%, FT%, PTS, 3’S, RBDS, AST, STL, BLK would you drop any combo drop who and add who if any ? ZBO, t frazier, nick young for tristan thompson , Vince carter , Patrick beverly. I only have 4 moves a week and have used two of them. P bev seems like a good pick up for my team. I only have 2 SG….. here is my team if it helps
G====== Lin, n young, collison, Tim Frazier, Sergio rodriguez, dennis schrodder,
F/C ====Horford, Zbo, T chandler, Anthony davis, D. Favors, rob covington, Draymond green.

So which guys would you drop on my team to pick up one or 2 of those 3. with P bev the most needed I think with tim fraziers time going down. I know during the next week while T. F. time dwindling as jrue working his way back in and p bev working his way back to 30 min a game…. anyways thx for all your help. !!

@1st time daily league owner: Tim Frazier will be relegated to the bench soon with Jrue Holiday coming back so I would go for Patrick Beverly. Looks like Pat Bev may play Thursday night. If not, he’ll be back shortly. Not too excited about Thompson or Carter. I would look at your categories and see which ones you could win by adding someone. If you need rebounds, then grab Thompson, but if you just need a little help in percentages than grab an efficient scorer.

@miles proudfoot: If you can swing the first deal, then I would definitely do it. If you exclude Knight/Winslow and Booker, then it’s much closer and could go either way. Personally, I’d rather have Brook Lopez and Warren in that scenario.

If it’s a shallow league, then I don’t think Capella is as much of a hold. Though I wouldn’t drop him for Terrance Jones. Streaming in a shallow league is a good move because there should be a lot available, especially if there isn’t a moves limit.

@runfast: On paper, I think it’s a fine trade for you. You upgrade to get the best player in the trade. And you open up a roster spot. Not sure who is available on the waiver wire, but if it’s someone decent, that could swing the trade even more into your favor.

The only thing I would consider is I’m not sure if any of those other guys have SF eligibility because by trading Gay that would leave you with Harkless as your only SF.

@Tyler: That’s a tough decision. I think almost all of your guys should be owned. But maybe Capela? I would try to make a trade to free up a spot because you have a lot of point guards, especially when Lin comes back.